60th year, No. 1
Serving the NATO, Naples and Gaeta Military Community in Italy
FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 2015
DoD Releases 2015 Military Pay and Compensation Rates From Defense Media Activity
SPOTLIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
The Department of Defense announced the 2015 military pay and compensation rates for service members, with most service members receiving a one percent increase in basic pay. The new rates for basic pay, basic allowance for housing, basic allowance for subsistence, and the cost of living allowance rates for the contiguous United States took effect on Jan. 1. Basic pay for service members will increase one percent, except for general and flag officers who will not see an increase in 2015. For example, an E-4 with three years of service will see an increase in basic pay of $22.20 per month, while an O-3 with six years of service will receive a basic pay increase of $54.30 per month in 2015. Basic allowance for housing rates for service members in 2015 will increase on average $17 per month, or 0.5 percent. Rates are calculated using median current market rent and average utilities (including electricity, heat, and water/sewer) for each pay grade, both with and without dependents. Two changes were made to BAH rate computations for 2015: renter’s insurance, which contributed an average of one percent to rates, was eliminated, and the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act reduced housing rates on average one percent for service members. However, individual rate protection for service members remains an integral part of the BAH program. This means that even if BAH rates decline – including through the elimination of renter’s insurance and the reduction in the calculated rate – a service member who maintains uninterrupted BAH eligibility in a given location will not see a rate decrease.
JOBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
PAY RATES Page 11
Naval Support Activity Naples Capodichino invited service members and their families to celebrate 2015 New Year’s Eve January 1 on top of the base’s sixstory parking garage. More than 500 attended the annual New Year’s Eve celebration to observe a unique 360-degree panoramic view of spectacular fireworks being launched within the surrounding Naples’ suburbs. (Photo by MC3 Robert Price)
Senior Enlisted Academy Prepares for Influx of E-8s By Daniel L. Kuester, Naval War College Public Affairs
All senior chiefs hoping to become master chiefs are now required to complete the Senior Enlisted Academy (SEA) course at U.S. Naval War College (NWC) in Newport, as announced by the Navy in November. For E-8s, that means approximately twice the number of students will be going through the program; for the SEA, that means nearly two years of preparation is finally paying off. “In February 2013, when the MCPON [Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy] told us we needed to
double the capacity of the SEA in order to afford every E-8 who wants to become an E-9 the opportunity to come here, we started to work on the logistics,” said Command Master Chief Jason Wallis, director of SEA. “We were trying to double the amount of students we could get in here,” he said. Increasing the number of enrolled students from 544 to approximately 1,100 was not as easy as having twice the number of classes. Instructors, SEA budget, and the host command, Naval Station Newport,
would not be able to handle the increased load. So Wallis and his staff found a way to accomplish the increase through problem solving and using an existing class as a model. SEA currently offers a course to Reserve personnel that combines both distance learning and in-house education. Using that model as a basis, the SEA leadership team modified and developed the new course with that in mind.
ENLISTED ACADEMY Page 11 CAPTAIN’S CORNER. . . . . . . . . 2 BASE NOTES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 ITALIAN NEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 NAVY HISTORY THIS WEEK . . . 4 FFSC CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . . 5 MOVIES / USO TOURS . . . . . . . 9 WORD SEARCH / COLOR ME 12
sCouts Bring PeACe Light to nsA . . . . . page 6
DeCA Fixing CommissAry shortAges . . . . . . . page 7